You may call it Der neue Bus, if you like. Eighteen months after we first heard about Volkswagen’s interest in a big crossover specifically designed for the U.S., the company’s CEO Martin Winterkorn yesterday confirmed that, yes, it definitely will happen. The vehicle will be built in the U.S., although Winterkorn stopped short of confirming that it’ll be built at Volkswagen’s horizonless grounds in Chattanooga, Tennessee. That news, along with the vehicle’s timing, will come early in 2013 after the VW board issues a full, final approval for the project.

We believe the new crossover, which VW internally calls “B-SUV,” will pack three rows in a bid to stray customers from the Honda Pilot and Ford Explorer. It’ll be priced accordingly, coming in thousands of dollars cheaper than the very European Touareg, and will be based on the new MQB architecture that VW is using for dozens of future products, including the brand-new Golf shown above.